


Nine Lives

by CSwivel



Series: Eruri Short Stories [2]
Category: Shingeki no Kyojin | Attack on Titan
Genre: Alternate Universe - Modern Setting, Alternate Universe - Reincarnation, Animal Abuse, Cat Levi (Shingeki no Kyojin), Devotion, Friendship/Love, Other, Platonic Soulmates
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-08-19
Updated: 2017-08-19
Packaged: 2018-12-17 11:21:15
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Major Character Death
Chapters: 9
Words: 2,931
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/11850522
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/CSwivel/pseuds/CSwivel
Summary: I have two lives left and I intend on spending them with Erwin.





	1. i

**Author's Note:**

> This story is based off a comic with the same name and I looked at the comic and got inspired and so I thought I'd write this. Hopefully you enjoy!!

In my first life I am a panther.

I am born strong and healthy and I live to see adulthood, unlike some of my brothers and sisters, who are less lucky.

But I live to hunt, prowling the plains and the forest, my presence bringing fear into the other animals that share the environment.

My black coat shines brightly in the sun, sleek and inky, giving the illusion that you could run your fingers through it like water.

I live a good life, well fed and healthy. I am free to do as I please, and I live through my days like that.


	2. ii

In my second life I am a jaguar.

I live to adulthood once more, prowling the jungle for my next meal.

I will never tire of the feeling of the long grass tickling my whiskers. Nor will I tire from the adrenaline that courses through me as I hunt, the way the ground beats beneath my paws and my heart echoes in my ears.

My coat is gorgeous with spots of black on top of tanned fur. Maybe that's why I am killed.

A bullet passes through my chest, and that is all I can remember.


	3. iii

In my third life I am a lion.

I don't live very long.

A new male takes over the pride and I am slaughtered to be replaced by offspring of different blood.


	4. iv

In my fourth life I am abandoned.

Left in a yard with many others, kept in chains and fences and cages that don't fit right and are too small.

My once beautiful coat that was shiny and neat is now matted and infested with fleas and ticks.

The sun beats down on us every day and some pass just from that and not starvation, which I can feel looming over my shoulder with each passing day.

Water is scarce but luckily there is rain a few days, but barely. It tastes like dirt and grim but it is all I could ever ask for.

Help arrives a few days later, but I am too weak to make it till then.


	5. v

In my fifth life I am worshipped.

My owners take care of me and pamper me. I only eat the finest of foods, only drink the cleanest of water, only sleep on the softest of blankets.

They brush my coat every day, my fluffy white fur looking like clouds hovering over my body. It is soft to the touch and silky smooth.

I am taught to sit pretty and pose on a podium and I bring home countless ribbons.

I pass of old age.


	6. vi

In my sixth life I am shared.

I live in a house with a woman and about ten other cats. We are allowed to leave whenever we want and we always come back in time for food and attention. I don't know how she does it but she loves each of us equally and none of us feel left out or jealous.

My life ends prematurely, however, when I go outside one day and find myself under the tire of a truck.


	7. vii

In my seventh life I am saved.

I am being chased by men with dogs whose bark sends shivers down my spine as I run as fast as my legs will take me.

They corner me in an alley and my body shakes with fear as the dogs inch closer. The men close the exit and I know I am trapped.

With a signal from the owners the dogs leap on me and begin their attack and I scream out as I feel a tooth dig into my eye and my stomach. One of the dogs pulls painfully at my tail and I feel pain shoot through me as a good chunk of it is bit off.

I can hear the men cheering in the background but most of my mind is taken over by pain and the sound of the dogs snarling as they maul me.

I can feel the end nearing and I embrace the feeling of death.

"Hey!" A man's voice booms, louder than the others which stop their cheering.

I whimper when I feel the dogs teeth leaving my skin and I lay half dead on the ground, shaking with pain and fear. The cold weather of mid-winter doesn't help.

I am surrounded by blackness.

I can hear footsteps approaching my body and I slowly open my eye, squinting up at the figure before me. My vision is blurry for a moment before it regains some focus and I see a man kneeling down over me, his face clouded with concern. Some strands of his blonde hair falls onto his forehead and I howl in pain as he picks me up.

He cradles me gently in his arms and whispers gently into my ear as he begins walking with me.

"Everything's going to be okay, I'm going to get you all fixed up, alright?"

I nuzzle carefully into his jacket and his body warms me. Pain still coils heavily around my body and I wince as he walks slowly up some stairs.

He moves one of his hands and a door swings open. I cannot see what I am walking into and I begin to feel afraid again.

I can hear dogs barking and cats meowing all at once and my body stiffens with anxiety.

"We got another one." The man states, and I can hear sadness dripping from his voice.

"Dammit." A woman curses.

I am walked through another door and the man places my body on a table. I want to run away but it hurts too much to move and I can't swat away any of the humans advances.

They exam my body and touch it with careful hands and prodding fingers and I howl more than once when they touch something particularly tender.

"We need to get him into surgery quickly." The man says with authority.

"But-" A woman tries to speak but she is cut off.

"I'll pay for it." The man says, a layer of finality in his voice.

I am picked up once again in the man's arms and I feel an odd sense of security wash over me. I can still feel myself trembling but not as bad as before.

I'm placed on another table and a loud buzzing noise sounds close to my face and I flinch away but it causes me to move in a bad way and I cry out for them to stop.

The fur on my paw is shaved off and I feel a little pinch through my skin before calmness suddenly settles in my bones. I stop trembling and all I can feel is warmth. I slowly close my eyes and drift off.

* * *

When I wake I am weak.

My body feels heavy and I can barely keep my eye open. I can't see out of the other one or feel it. My stomach hurts and I ache all over. The, now shorter, tip of my tail has been bandaged and one of my hind legs is in a cast.

I hate the cage they've put me in. It's small and stuffy and I'd rather be outside, even with my body hurting the way it is.

The blonde haired man comes back. He takes me out of the cage and smiles at me and tells me kind things and I snuggle into his chest as he gently hugs my healing body.

I am grateful for what he has done. I only have two lives left and I already know that I'm going to spend them with him.

He pokes me and examines my body on one of the tables before he picks me up and puts me back in the cage. He doesn't leave me in there for very long though before he comes back holding a blanket that is soft to touch as he places me on it.

He's smiling down at me as he holds me in his arms once more and I feel him start to walk. I hope he's taking me out of this place.

He does. We go through a terrible car ride which I cannot stand because it's so loud and then we arrive at a little house with pretty flowers growing on the front deck.

He names me Levi.

It takes a little while for me to warm up to him but not too long for I am grateful that this man saved my life.

I spend the rest of my days with him, Erwin is his name, I learn.

He is the kindest man I've ever met and I grow to love him easily.

He feeds me plenty of food and plays with me and snuggles with me whenever I want. I don't feel deserving of his affection.

There are other pets that spend their time in his home but none of them ever stay. I am the only permanent resident.

He brings dogs into his home as well but he learns after a while to keep them away from me, for fear takes over every time one of them nears me.

I catch my reflection in the mirror in his hallway one day and I wonder why he keeps me for I am ugly. I am missing my right eye, my ears are mangled, I have patches on my body from where scars have formed that prevents my fur from growing back. My tail is shorter than any normal cat's and I never do fully regain balance when I jump from spot to spot around his home.

I don't understand why he loves me but he tells me he does every night before he goes to bed and every day before he leaves for work. I learn to accept his affections and I learn to love him too.

I die curled up on his bed, time taking its toll on my damaged and scarred body.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Erwin is a veterinarian in case that wasn't clear.


	8. viii

In my eighth life I am sick.

I manage to find Erwin again and he takes me in once more. He finds me at the shelter after I am able to get his attention by constantly calling his name and he turns toward me and holds out his hand as he tries to pet me through the bars of the cage. He takes me home and he names me Link.

Happiness is short lived when my stomach begins to hurt and I stop eating because of it. He seems to sense that something is wrong and after four days without food and very little water he takes me back to the building I remember from my last life with him.

He leaves me there and I feel abandoned. Why would he leave me here? Doesn't he love me?

People poke at me with needles and draw blood from me and I feel as though I'm being tortured. I can feel myself becoming weaker with each passing day and I just wish that I could see Erwin again.

One day I do see him again and it is on the day I die.

A woman comes up to my cage where I lay and picks me up in her arms, a sad and sympathetic look on her face as she carries me away. She walks down winding hallways before she stops at a door and it swings open to reveal Erwin on the other side.

I call out to him as she places me down on a table and he rushes over to me. I begin to purr loudly as he pets under my chin and around my ears.

"I'll give you a moment alone." The woman states.

"Thank you." Erwin replies, never taking his eyes off me.

I can tell that he has been crying for his eyes are surrounded by red and his cheeks are puffy and swollen. There is a box of tissues and he takes one out to blow his nose.

I don't know why he's been crying but he continues to do so as he pets me and speaks to me, saying kind and gentle words as I struggle for each breath. Drool dribbles down my chin and he wipes it away for me as I continue to purr and try my hardest to use all my strength to snuggle and nudge his hands.

He keeps one hand on me at all times and never stops petting me, even as the woman walks back into the room carrying a needle in her hand. She explains something to Erwin which I do not hear and he nods his head in understanding at her words.

I feel his arms around me as he wraps me in a blanket and cradles me to his chest, more tears streaming steadily down his face.

He talks to me as a sudden warmth shoots through my body, running thickly through my veins.

"You fought so well, I'm so proud of you. I'm sorry you had to go so soon. But you got nine lives, right? Maybe I'll see you again some time."

The last thing I see is his warm smile from above as my vision blurs and fades to black.


	9. ix

In my ninth life I am home.

A little blonde boy finds me in the park one day, happy and smiling widely as I let him pet me. I meow loudly in surprise as he picks me up in his arms and slings me over his shoulder like a coat.

I think better of scratching him for I know it would be rude so I let him carry me wherever he wants. I can only see behind him as he struggles to open a door but as soon as he walks through the doorway I recognize where I am. I'm in Erwin's house.

"Daddy daddy look! I found a kitty!" The little boy tells as he walks into the kitchen.

He takes me off his shoulder and holds me under my front legs in front of Erwin, who is standing in front of the stove holding a spatula. He looks down at the boy and smiles gently, the same smile I remember from our last life together.

"Where did you find this kitty?" He asks.

"In the park!" The boy yells. I manage to wiggle out of his grasp and I run over to Erwin, snuggling and rubbing against his long legs before I sit beside him on the floor and start to tell him about how much I missed him and how he should keep me.

He presses a button on the stove before he turns to me.

"Okay okay, I get it." I start to purr immediately as he kneels down and pets me under my chin and around my ears, my favourite spots.

"Can we keep it!?" The boy asks, begging Erwin and jumping in place. I begin to plead along with the boy for him to keep me and Erwin laughs kindly as he pets me. "I guess we can keep him."

"Yay!" The boy begins to celebrate and runs out of the room yelling for a girl named Krista along with his mother.

I nuzzle into Erwin's legs as he continues cooking.

Erwin has changed from the last time I met him. He has a wife, Marie, and two children now, Armin and Krista. They fight over my attention constantly and they settle on the name Lynas. Armin came up with it and it was either that or Princess, which was Krista's idea. I'm glad we went with Lynas.

A dog now lives in the house as well and his name is Eren. I don't really like him that much but I slowly warm up to him. He can be a bit too energetic sometimes and can play fight a little hard but he's a good dog. He has a bond with Armin that is similar to the one I have with Erwin.

There is a feeling of being at home when I'm in the house that I never felt anywhere else and I find myself always being happy. I found a home.

I try to spend as much of my time with Erwin as I can, snuggling up with him when he's on the couch or in his office. His presence makes me feel warm and I feel a spark each time he touches me. I never thought I'd love someone as much as I love him.

I live a full life, at home, with Erwin and his family.

Old age takes over my body and they find me curled up under the kitchen table one day, clinging to life.

I'm glad that Erwin holds me and let's the kids pet me while I'm in his arms. I can feel myself slowly slipping, my breathing slowing down as I look up at Erwin once more.

"Thank you." I say, even though I know he can't understand me.

I thank him for taking me in and giving me a home when no one else would, for making me happy and allowing me to spend my days with him. I thank him for loving me when I thought I was unlovable, and for saving me again and again.

My lives flash before my eyes as I look up at him as he smiles down at me and I am happy that I spent my last three lives with him. These last three lives were the best of all and I cannot thank him enough for giving them to me.

I am happy that my existence ends in his arms.


End file.
